something haunts us all
Omg, Devil's Cub was so awesome. Quite unwittingly I had built up high expectations and, though there were some doubts at the start, boy did it turn out wonderful.
He was so frightening! And bloodthirsty! And frightening! Drunken, violent, cruel, reckless, immoral, misogynistic Bad Man! My brow was crinkled for much of the first half, wondering how Heyer was going to redeem this quite alarming man and render him sympathetic and beloved to me, wondering if she could.
Omg Heyer, allow me to bow down.
For at this: There was a deafening report and the Marquis went staggering back. He recovered in a moment. "It was loaded," he said coolly": I felt a surge of intense satisfaction and the voice in my head went "She shot him," then in tones of awful glee "she shot him," and finally with pure awe "She shot him?!" Zomg Heyer. *casts self at her feet*
And my hope/suspicion was borne out quite beautifully cos from the moment our heroine shot him --- !!! --- our hero became human and all the more considerate. I was totally hanging out to hear him confess that that was precisely the moment he fell in love with her but unfortunately that didn't happen. The closest we came was him saying before that his mother would be his only love and then afterwards saying that the only woman capable of pulling the trigger would have been his mother. Hee. He did declare himself in the most deliciously fervent terms at the end and oh, had me beaming ear to ear in the middle of court. Nothing like a romance wonderfully realised.
Our heroine was an interesting character from a writer point of view. Cos she was introduced with a lot of promise, the word 'bluestocking' even was used which got the reader me all excited, and she was quietly sarcastic to her absolutely appalling mother. Then I was fairly disappointed to see her behave with such primness and propriety for a good long while. But every now and then she would do the most brazen defiant thing that had me gasping with admiration and privately cheering her on. So it was a very odd mix of demure but defiant and I'm still not entirely sure I approve or like her very much.
But certainly she was the exact sort of personality to calm him down and handle him, which she pretty much admits. It was very much the way Jane manages Rochester in the early days and you could look at her behaviour as passive aggressive manipulation but oh it was too much fun to watch him be tamed. No greater joy in the romance reading experience.
The curious thing is I have a certain admiration for that dynamic in fiction cos my impulse as a writer would be to have them battle it out, tooth and nail, until he relents in humour and then they take it in turns to capitulate or triumph. But that's cos I'm as subtle as a sledgehammer and can't manage anything more skilful. *snort*
Could have done without the exposition of the previous book but it was pretty awesome to see most of those characters and see how they've changed and stayed the same. I did think that perhaps Heyer hadn't quite mastered the hilarity of the verbal misunderstandings yet cos they were a bit too messy, not quite as deftly handled as in the later books I've read, and went for a little longer than absolutely necessary.
But ahahahahaha, awesome plot and fabulous complications and an excellent amount of characters driving their own plots, all intersecting, overlapping, tripping over each other and finally resolving with the most breathtaking elegance. I mean, damn, Heyer!
I particularly adored how she had our most deliciously dangerous Duke appear near the start of the novel and then not reappear until the very end when everything seemed hopeless. It was too too marvellous, that moment we recognise him when our heroine has never met him before. A cheer went up in my head.
Really Heyer managed the taming of her devil's cub to perfecton. cos not only was the shooting of him necessary but then to have him accidentally wound our heroine was exactly what we needed in order to know he would never again be so violent and bloodthirsty even if it is to claim her. I was convinced, anyway.
And hee, the lovely weariness of Mr Fox and the unchanged boyish exclamations of Rupert and the ramblings of Fanny ... so excellent to have them all colour in the humour of Heyer. I wonder exactly how many years come between the writing of this and These Old Shades. I assumed they came directly after but no, this was written in '32 and that was in the Twenties, wasn't it? Intreeeguing. I should look it up now but I can't be arsed.
And cos I knew I'd finish it on the bus and have nothing to read for the hour and a half before writing group, I went to scour Kino possibly for Inkheart. But then I realised I'd never investigated what Heyer stock they possessed and ohhhhhhhh ... a shelf and a half! *drools* So I bought Cotillion. Because I am shameless and Without Shame. Besharam, as we'd say in the Hindi fillums. Bilkul besharam. In fact, puttar, there is no sharam.
But omg, when I lined up to pay, there was a table set to the side and piled upon it were the original cream and black alternate HARDCOVERS of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell! For fifteen dollars! I squealed once at the sight and then was rendered speechless by the price. Omg what a gift from the universe is this that they've republished the novel in that glorious so beautiful much coveted design! Clearly the fans must have clamoured. *nods*
I agonised for about ten full seconds about whether to get the white one or the black. Summoned the mental image of the Raven King's flag and yep, definitely the white one. God, it's so luscious and lovely, the so tactile timeless creamy texture and argh, when I picked it up, my wrist protested immediately at that doorstop weight. But no way in hell was I passing it over.
Anyway, I can always keep this one for the visual and stroking and purring pleasure but use the relatively lighter paperback in green for the reading when out and about. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaaaaannnnn, much much with the quiet fangirl glee. *flails away in her lil corner*
He was so frightening! And bloodthirsty! And frightening! Drunken, violent, cruel, reckless, immoral, misogynistic Bad Man! My brow was crinkled for much of the first half, wondering how Heyer was going to redeem this quite alarming man and render him sympathetic and beloved to me, wondering if she could.
Omg Heyer, allow me to bow down.
For at this: There was a deafening report and the Marquis went staggering back. He recovered in a moment. "It was loaded," he said coolly": I felt a surge of intense satisfaction and the voice in my head went "She shot him," then in tones of awful glee "she shot him," and finally with pure awe "She shot him?!" Zomg Heyer. *casts self at her feet*
And my hope/suspicion was borne out quite beautifully cos from the moment our heroine shot him --- !!! --- our hero became human and all the more considerate. I was totally hanging out to hear him confess that that was precisely the moment he fell in love with her but unfortunately that didn't happen. The closest we came was him saying before that his mother would be his only love and then afterwards saying that the only woman capable of pulling the trigger would have been his mother. Hee. He did declare himself in the most deliciously fervent terms at the end and oh, had me beaming ear to ear in the middle of court. Nothing like a romance wonderfully realised.
Our heroine was an interesting character from a writer point of view. Cos she was introduced with a lot of promise, the word 'bluestocking' even was used which got the reader me all excited, and she was quietly sarcastic to her absolutely appalling mother. Then I was fairly disappointed to see her behave with such primness and propriety for a good long while. But every now and then she would do the most brazen defiant thing that had me gasping with admiration and privately cheering her on. So it was a very odd mix of demure but defiant and I'm still not entirely sure I approve or like her very much.
But certainly she was the exact sort of personality to calm him down and handle him, which she pretty much admits. It was very much the way Jane manages Rochester in the early days and you could look at her behaviour as passive aggressive manipulation but oh it was too much fun to watch him be tamed. No greater joy in the romance reading experience.
The curious thing is I have a certain admiration for that dynamic in fiction cos my impulse as a writer would be to have them battle it out, tooth and nail, until he relents in humour and then they take it in turns to capitulate or triumph. But that's cos I'm as subtle as a sledgehammer and can't manage anything more skilful. *snort*
Could have done without the exposition of the previous book but it was pretty awesome to see most of those characters and see how they've changed and stayed the same. I did think that perhaps Heyer hadn't quite mastered the hilarity of the verbal misunderstandings yet cos they were a bit too messy, not quite as deftly handled as in the later books I've read, and went for a little longer than absolutely necessary.
But ahahahahaha, awesome plot and fabulous complications and an excellent amount of characters driving their own plots, all intersecting, overlapping, tripping over each other and finally resolving with the most breathtaking elegance. I mean, damn, Heyer!
I particularly adored how she had our most deliciously dangerous Duke appear near the start of the novel and then not reappear until the very end when everything seemed hopeless. It was too too marvellous, that moment we recognise him when our heroine has never met him before. A cheer went up in my head.
Really Heyer managed the taming of her devil's cub to perfecton. cos not only was the shooting of him necessary but then to have him accidentally wound our heroine was exactly what we needed in order to know he would never again be so violent and bloodthirsty even if it is to claim her. I was convinced, anyway.
And hee, the lovely weariness of Mr Fox and the unchanged boyish exclamations of Rupert and the ramblings of Fanny ... so excellent to have them all colour in the humour of Heyer. I wonder exactly how many years come between the writing of this and These Old Shades. I assumed they came directly after but no, this was written in '32 and that was in the Twenties, wasn't it? Intreeeguing. I should look it up now but I can't be arsed.
And cos I knew I'd finish it on the bus and have nothing to read for the hour and a half before writing group, I went to scour Kino possibly for Inkheart. But then I realised I'd never investigated what Heyer stock they possessed and ohhhhhhhh ... a shelf and a half! *drools* So I bought Cotillion. Because I am shameless and Without Shame. Besharam, as we'd say in the Hindi fillums. Bilkul besharam. In fact, puttar, there is no sharam.
But omg, when I lined up to pay, there was a table set to the side and piled upon it were the original cream and black alternate HARDCOVERS of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell! For fifteen dollars! I squealed once at the sight and then was rendered speechless by the price. Omg what a gift from the universe is this that they've republished the novel in that glorious so beautiful much coveted design! Clearly the fans must have clamoured. *nods*
I agonised for about ten full seconds about whether to get the white one or the black. Summoned the mental image of the Raven King's flag and yep, definitely the white one. God, it's so luscious and lovely, the so tactile timeless creamy texture and argh, when I picked it up, my wrist protested immediately at that doorstop weight. But no way in hell was I passing it over.
Anyway, I can always keep this one for the visual and stroking and purring pleasure but use the relatively lighter paperback in green for the reading when out and about. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaaaaannnnn, much much with the quiet fangirl glee. *flails away in her lil corner*